Monochrome
by Ceasefire
Summary: The white silk flows around them, slides from their bodies with such smooth grace as they move that Dino feels gooseflesh raise along his skin. D18, spoilers for the future arc.


This is a quick ficlet, written for 31_days on Livejournal, May 19: farewell is for the sake of tomorrow.

Akira Amano owns Reborn, and I am making no profit from this story.

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><p>The white silk flows around them, slides from their bodies with such smooth grace as they move that Dino feels gooseflesh raise along his skin. Kyouya glances at him with all the intent and none of the excitement of a cat on the prowl, eyes following the tattoo on his left arm with perfectly feigned disinterest. Kyouya's skin is pale and smooth against his own, almost to the degree of the fabric covering their bodies, and Dino smiles and muses that if it weren't for the darkness of his hair and eyes and of the bruises on his wrists, he would risk losing him among the sheets.<p>

As the seconds pass, each marked with a reverberating _tick_ from the ancient grandfather clock in the corner of Dino's room, Kyouya's fingernails graze harmlessly against Dino's bare shoulders, and shifts against him too many times for Dino to take comfort in his movements. Dino frowns and leans down to press a kiss to the crown of Kyouya's head, his eyes lingering on his lover's bruised wrists in the same way that Kyouya's had lingered on his tattoos.

"Kyouya?"

"Yes?" Kyouya replies, and Dino does not like the tension that mars his voice.

"... are you okay?"

Hibari doesn't respond, but he moves closer to Dino in a way so subtle that Dino almost misses it. He isn't sure whether to take that as a yes or a no, but he knows the best way to encourage Kyouya is to give him the impression of dominance. If it was any other time, he would simply exaggerate any minor insecurity he was feeling to allow them both the comfort of Kyouya's brand of reassurance, but this time he feels that he does not have to exaggerate.

"I'm scared, Kyouya."

"Coward," Kyouya purrs, but his tone is half-hearted; he undoubtedly knows what Dino was intending to do, but he doesn't seem to be in the mood to play the game. Dino shrugs, sighs and guides Kyouya along the length of his body until they're eye-to-eye. The bed sheets adorn Kyouya's head like a veil, and their skin slides together as easily as the fabric falls from around Kyouya's body when Dino pulls it away. There is nothing between them now, and Dino takes advantage of the situation, running fingertips from the small of Kyouya's back to the nape of his neck, teeth grazing over his bottom lip when Kyouya shivers and almost makes noise.

"Kyouya," he breathes, letting his lover's name cross the tip of his tongue like a breath of fresh air. If Kyouya wasn't in the mood for the heavy-hearted reality of their situation, then he would have to resort to different tactics. He knows his actions would get his point across even without the added help of words, and the slow warmth and violent shiver that courses through Kyouya's body as he kisses him reaffirms this. Dino feels the tension in Kyouya's limbs reflected in his own movements; kissing Kyouya is almost as dangerous as it is exciting, but Dino finds that both of these feelings blur in his mind to the point where the sharp nip of Kyouya's teeth against his bottom lip makes him moan. But the tension is not only from anticipation, and that knowledge is what adds the edge of desperation to their movement.

They break apart just in time to hear the final, resounding _tick_ from the grandfather clock before it strikes ten, their lips still barely touching, the uneven sound of their breathing muted by the toll of the bells. They wait for every chime to sound until there is nothing left but the soft, rhythmic ticking of the seconds passing them by. Dino attempts one more kiss, but Kyouya pulls away, slips away with all the ease they'd experienced when they were coming together. He collects his clothing and turns away to dress himself, his strange sense of modesty still prevailing over his desire for intimacy even in times such as this. Dino can see the scars, now; the faint red lines running along neck, back and thighs, given in equal part by malice and passion. It is amazing, Dino thinks with a heavy sense of irony, how things can change when you choose to look at them from another perspective.

Dino lets the pure white of the bed sheets pool around is waist as Kyouya dresses, eyes and hair as black as the suit that now covers the pale of his skin. Kyouya retrieves a unlabeled envelope from his coat pocket and places it on the night stand next to Dino's bed, beside Dino's box, ring and phone, and Dino knows better than to open the envelope and read whatever is contained inside in his lover's presence. He turns to Dino with an expression of finality and crouches to retrieve his packed suitcase from beneath the bed.

"I'm going."

Dino falls silent for a long time, but he speaks as Kyouya turns around and makes for the door, voice raw with emotion.

"Be careful."

Kyouya nods.

"I'll miss you."

Kyouya is perfectly still.

"I love you."

"... I know."

This is what Dino needs to hear.

Kyouya leaves without another word, and Dino lets his gaze linger on the door for much longer than he usually would, feeling as if Kyouya's departure has left him hollow and void of the will to move. It feels like a lifetime before he reaches for the letter Kyouya has left him, but a quick check of the clock tells him that barely thirty minutes have passed. It was never enjoyable to be separated from the one you love, but Dino had already known that this particular time apart would be trying.

The phone rings just as Dino splits open the envelope's top with the sides of his fingers, and the uneven scrawl of Kyouya's handwriting and his unpracticed use of Italian almost makes him smile.

_The next time we meet, it will be different._

_Watch Japan for anything unusual._

_Love._

The letter was enough to make Dino's smile genuine. It was Kyouya all over; the rough, to-the-point nature of his words, the vagueness, and the declaration of affection that seemed to be addressed to no one, but Dino knew better than to think that.

He picks up the telephone on the final ring, and when Romario's voice resonates from the other line, his right-hand-man is almost as short and to-the-point as Kyouya's letter.

"Boss, the Millefiore have attacked the western border of our territory."

Dino replies in a way that makes him feel his own exhaustion seep deeper into his bones, and puts the received back in its cradle. He leaves the bed and its sheets of the purest white and goes to his closet, retrieving a suit as dark as the one Kyouya had worn to visit him, as dark as the one he'd stripped from Kyouya's slender frame in passion, as dark as the one Kyouya had retrieved from his floor and re-clothed himself in as the time to part had drawn near. He slips his ring on his finger and pockets Kyouya's letter. He reaches for Scuderia's box last, almost as an afterthought.

Kyouya was gone, their parting holding the weight of a long separation. Sighing and running his hair, Dino headed for his bedroom door, casting one final look back at the disheveled bed sheets. From this angle, shadows made even the purest of white seem dark.

He would defend his territory, but everything was falling out of his grasp.

He could only hope that Tsuna's meeting with the Millefiore - the one Kyouya had flown back to Japan specifically to attend - would end in their favour.

**End.**

Comments are always appreciated.


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